With the economy still a main concern, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner could be on the chopping block if Obama chooses to switch up his staff. CC BY: The White House

November 4, 2010

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Looking to explain severe losses in the midterms, Democratic critics are saying that President Obama's top advisers failed to get the party's message across during the campaign, and many party leaders are pressuring Obama to make sweeping changes to his staff. Will a White House shake-up help the president regroup, or should he stay the course?

Heads must roll: Obama needs a "fall guy," or several of them, says John Carney at CNBC. He needs to "publicly mark a change of direction... and privately send a message to party insiders" that his staff selections may have contributed to losing the House. Since the economy is still the country's top concern, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is the first person the president should "toss" out."So long, Tim Geithner"

Democrats still do not get it: Poor, clueless Democrats — they think all they need is a new "playbook," says Bryan Preston at Pajamas Media. The truth is the White House got its message out "very loudly" in the midterm campaign — but it amounted to smearing Republicans, and trying to transform American into nirvana for "hard-core leftists." The midterms proved that Obama's problem isn't a failure to communicate, and it's not "personnel" — it's that voters don't want what he is selling."Is a major Obama administration shake-up coming?

Obama will not clean house merely for show: President Obama is not going to boot people for "symbolic effect," says Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic. The last thing the White House wants to do is rush into "significant staff shake-ups" that would give ammunition to critics who say Obama "is responsible for the economic situation." There will be some changes, as there are after two years in any administration, but they will come after "careful review.""No immediate White House shake-up seen"